Trinacria

Best spaghetti of my life. Great atmosphere. I’m just sad it took me so long to try this place.

The worst Italian food I’ve ever had! We ordered lasagna and gnocchis. The lasagna tasted worse than one I could buy frozen at the grocery store and the gnocchis just had tomato sauce poured over them — no spices or anything in the sauce. Many people had recommended this place to us — but we were more than disappointed. :(

I’ve eaten here a half dozen times and each time seems better than the last. Please make reservations. This is not the olive garden, the owner chef makes a limited amount of everything because he makes it daily, instead of heating up a plastic bag of salty flour like the OG makes. If you make reservations, then he’ll know how much to prepare, which in turn keeps the cost down for the patrons. Excellent food!

The first time I went to Trinacria I had only read reviews, actually not even quite that. I saw the stars, figured it would be good, and made a reservation. Going in I just wanted good food, I had no time limit or expectations of service. I was greeted by a very friendly woman, who I believe is the only waitress/​hostess Trinacria has, and seated at a nice corner table. The restaurant itself is rustic but romantic, very much a homelike feel. I spent quite some time trying to make the life or death decision of what to eat for dinner, as each item looked more appetizing than the next. I decided on the gnocchi with pomodoro sauce, and placed my order. After some time, but not unreasonable for truly homemade food, my plate arrived, carried by a short man in chef’s whites. This man was Eugenio, the owner and chef. He set my plate down, introduced himself, and waited for me to take my first bite. As I displayed my pleasure in the meal he did as well, his face splitting into a massive grin and him telling me to enjoy my meal. It was incredible, and by far the best gnocchi I have ever had. Your dinner finishes off with a nice, bitter salad and black coffee to cleanse the palate. This is something that, here in America, is not usual. It finished off the dinner perfectly. I left a generous tip, and as I left Eugenio yelled out goodbye in Italian. I have been back several times since, and have never been disappointed. Do, however, make reservations. Eugenio, as I have noticed, cooks when he feels like it (I personally admire this attitude, it produces much higher quality food more consistently). I have stopped by multiple times during «open hours» to see the restaurant closed. So absolutely make reservations to catch him. Come in, sit down, relax a while, and just enjoy the atmosphere and the delicious food.

Words cannot expressed on how thisplace made my birthday extra special. Praises to the owner/​chef that made all of the meals homemade delicious! Will definitely come back again.

Best food in Olympia! My three kids all love it too and they are super picky. The Penne Broccoli is unparalleled — love it when Chef Eugenio crisps it a bit. So good! The lasagna is sublime. I’ve taken so many friends here over the years and all swoon over the lasagna. The Amatriciana is also fantastic. The #1 Sicilian Pizza of spinach, raisin, mozzarella and Pomodoro sauce is also a favorite. My kids are fans of the Ragu and Bechamel sauce on fettuccini as well as his gnocchi. I really like the Pepperonta with the bread knots as an appetizer. Simple and perfect. I don’t like Tiramisu anywhere else but, I love his. And I’ve had friends say the same thing. Dreamy Sicilian cooking. His back room is our go-​to for parties. They do prefer you to make reservations but, I know some who have lucked out as walk ins.

WoW,
We decided to give this place a try based on the reviews. We walked in around 5:30pm and it was basically empty. We were greeted by a lady that turned out to be our waitress for the night and she asked us if we had a reservation. We said no, and with a rather irritated look on her face, she looked around the empty restaurant, thought about it and said, ok, you guys can sit down. When she got us to the table she explained that she just hates it when people show up without reservations and expect to eat. She gave us a card and said, call next time. That was our welcome. Our waitress seemed like she had to «try» to be friendly each time she spoke with us during the course of the dinner. Ok whatever, we didn’t like her either. She did however set an expectation with us that the food here must be really amazing. Why else would we be so lucky to be seated for dinner without calling her first?
The food was not amazing. The food wasn’t even mediocre, it was actually, really, really bad. The Italian guy in the back, making this crap is not serving his country men well. He’s a convincing «character» only until you take a bite of his amateur 5^th grader attempt at pasta. What a disappointment. Combine this with the attitude from our waitress and you get one star. This place must be buying the five star reviews it has received. It makes no sense.

I went here with my bf the other week and it was a super great experience. I love how authentic the chef made this little restaurant. The quality of the homemade noodles are the best we’ve ever had! The wait was a long one (one chef making everything and it was busy, so super understandable), but it didn’t matter because it was a great opportunity to sit and talk.
Also, don’t forget, you get a complimentary salad after your meal if you still have room :)

What is not to like about this place? If you want Italian food in Olympia, this is the place. We have eaten here several times, and every time we have left happy and satisfied.
At first when you were sitting down and looking at the menu, you think you may have made a mistake. The menu is very simple. Order anything on there and you’ll be amazed at how good it is. My daughter ordered the pasta with corn and cream sauce and it was incredible. Don’t forget to have dessert.

Not a single complaint. Great service, amazing food, the owner/​head cook even came out and gave me a box of Gluten Free noodles to take home with me. Have you ever had reheated spaghetti that tasted good? I never did until the day after I went to dinner here. Cannot wait to go back. I’ll make the 45 minute drive.

Wow, what an amazing treat. The food was incredible and the owner was even better. The desert was to die for.

Very disappointing. I was served watery under seasoned sauce on over cooked pasta. Lots of hype for this place but we found it highly over rated.

Oh dear. I’d read the reviews before coming here and was prepared for inadequate service. Bad service I can handle — but I got more than I bargained for: bad service AND bad food… and a little drama to boot.
Nothing could prepare me for the hilarity that would ensue at Trinacria.
First off, yes, there is a charm to the small restaurant with its wrinkled posters of Italian landmarks on the wall, the turquoise, corrugated plastic light fixtures that run floor-​to-​ceiling, the fogged up windows on a cold Olympia night. It’s odd. It’s adorable. It’s…kind of a silly place.
The service is indifferent and tacky. Our meal was embarrassingly bad. And the chef… ohhhh the chef!
While waiting for our appetizer (which never showed up), there was a ruckus — a RUCKUS — in the kitchen. Chef Eugenio was throwing an absolute FIT over who-​knows-​what and was screaming all over the kitchen in his adorable Italian accent.
Every person in the restaurant sat in stunned silence, giving each other the «Omigod is this really happening /​Are we on Candid Camera?» look. I couldn’t help but burst into giggle fits. It was absolutely hysterical.
What made it even more amusing was when the lone waitress of the night — obviously used to the chef’s antics — came out to address the situation to us by casually announcing:
«So yeaaaah… he’s just gonna yell for a little bit.»
She then proceeded to walk back to the kitchen… whilst yelling BACK at him!
Ohh, it was so entertaining. Food AND a show?! Score!
The show was great. Unfortunately, the food was awful.
— Bread Knots: I thought these were a joke. They looked like sad little doggy bone biscuits in a basket. My date and I looked at them; looked at each other; and we giggled. We each took a bite. And we giggled some more. Bleck!
— Caprese: This never arrived, so I can’t tell you how it was. Our server had completely forgotten to put in the order for our appetizer, despite having asked us twice which one we wanted.
— Eugenio: This was the chef’s namesake pasta, so I thought it might be special. Well… it was special indeed. It’s bowtie pasta with a white cream sauce with pieces of corn mixed in and topped with parmesan. Yes, *corn*. (Stop laughing. I’m being serious.)
— Ragu Tortellini: This had promise. It looked like a traditional Sicilian pasta with its simplicity and minimal sauce. But then we took a bite. My dinner date, whilst chewing and with his eyes wide with amusement, said, «It’s verrrrrrrry al dente.» He was putting it kindly, of course. The pasta was waaaaaaay undercooked.
Was it an off-​night? Eh. Who knows. We quietly ate our food, gulping down each odd, somewhat painful bite, thinking… I can’t wait to go somewhere else after this and eat a real meal. Heh.
Hey, they can’t all be winners. We’ve eaten spectacularly well over the last few weeks. I suppose we were due for some crappy food to balance out our culinary universe.
In summary — I went into this knowing the service would be awful, but I held out for the food. And unfortunately the pasta’s a 1-​star experience. I think perhaps the pizza is the thing to order here. Our meal was total crap, but I had to give an extra star for the entertainment. Chef Eugenio is pure comedy. Give that man a reality TV show!

Love it! Small, intimate, and good! Perfect for a date or a party. This is the real deal Italiano. Everything is simple and perfect.
My wife and I come here often. We love Eugenio, the owner. Every day he works to make his food perfect.
We recommend the Sicilian pizzas or the penne.
Don’t come on a weekend without a reservation.
This is not your typical restaurant. Eugenio runs his place his way and that’s that.

My wife and I rented a cabin over the Puget Sound celebrating 7 years of marriage. We stopped to get some Italian food in Olympia to bring back to our small cabin. My wife went in to place an order for takeout while I stayed outside with our dog. She came out about ten minutes later in complete shock. We were refused service. The hostess asked my wife what we would like, and warned us «…sometimes he will» and then went back into the kitchen (i’m assuming to ask the chef/​owner if this was okay). When she returned, she gave a prompt «no».
I could understand this if the restaurant was packed. Nope — one table in the entire place, and they were all speaking Italian. I’M AN ITALIAN AMERICAN! It’s too bad for them, because Basilico is right down the street and they were happy to serve us. The food/​staff were AMAZING! If you are torn between the two restaurants, please choose Basilico and know that you are supporting considerate, decent people who are happy to serve you, over a washed-​up, old-​world Italian jerk.

From the outside we weren’t sure it was open. A turn of the doorknob and we were in. Small & Quaint; very dim lighting. **CASH/​CHECKS ONLY
Good food, pleasant staff, decent prices. Would have liked more meat options but will be back to try other entrees. Wine was fine but pricey by the glass; will order bottle next time or none at all.

I was here a week ago when I was in the area for work. I have been debating my rating ever since. My preference would be 3.5, so gave it a 4 in an effort not to under rate it. Actually, I would like to get my wife here, since does these ratings better than I.
This is Italian food. It is not the southern style that has the heave sauce. Nor does it have lots of meat. In short, the meat is in the sauce and it is a light sauce. The choices are essentially vegetarian. I got a Sicilian pizza, which looks like calzone without a heavy sauce. The dough was tasty and moist. The filing was good.
The main dish is followed by a salad that had a nice dressing. I like mine to be light and subtle; this fit my needs and was a nice way to finish the dinner.
I ordered a glass of red, that was just OK. I was not that impressed by the wine list in terms of choices. However, it is fairly priced. The combination tells me the food is primary here and a wine snob should go elsewhere. However, if you like very good food with wine, then this is a good choice. I will be back when I am in the area.

Finally got to try this much-​hyped restaurant. Fun and intimate décor, but enough small issues accumulated to merit no more than 3 stars.
— Dining partner had to ask for his wine as it never came
— My coffee with our appetizer arrived cold. Not lukewarm, cold.
— No entrees, only pasta (traditional Italian — which they’re trying to be — is appetizer, pasta, entrée, salad, dessert)
— Dining partner’s espresso arrived late during dessert
— They never brought our boxed leftover
— We had to ask for a candle to our table
So it’s definitely worth going again and maybe the service will be better?
The tiramisu was fabulous!

I burst out laughing when I was reading the reviews of this place! I had a wonderful, but entirely different experience…
My husband and I were debating where to go out to eat downtown one evening last spring, and I mentioned that maybe we should give that ‘one italian place that never looks open’ a shot. We eat dinner pretty early, so it was maybe at latest 5 pm.
We parked in the Broho’s lot, and walked up to the store front. The open sign wasn’t on, so we turned to walk back to the car… when behind us we heard a boisterous «Hi there! Where are you going, we’re open, we’re open, come on in! «We did as we were told. The gentleman who beckoned us inside (I believe, the owner) seated us and told us that he doesn’t turn on the light much because he doesn’t like the light it makes, and that he’d send along our waitress.
We reviewed the menu and ordered– I had a glass of wine and some delicious dish (it’s been almost a year, cut a girl a break), my husband had water and some other delicious dish (again, it’s been a yearish) — but what I CAN remember is the cute little bow tie bread, watching the owner and waitresses bustle around a prep area, the dim lighting, the homey feel of the place… the fogging up windows as the restaurant warmed with people and the night grew dark and the light from our table’s fixture reflected in my hubby’s eyes. We must have been paying in cash that night, or I’m sure I’d remember the hassle of not having it! ;)
Definitely worth going to, and worth making reservations if needed (which according to everyone else they are). I never knew and I guess sometimes ignorance truly is bliss!

I tell you what, when you can walk into a restaurant and ask that the owner/​chef make you whatever he chooses for you to eat, as long as it isn’t on the menu, and he has stop what he is doing in the kitchen to come out and not chastise you, but catch a glimpse of the individual that has not only touched his artisan culinary heart, but has inspired him to to be challenged that very moment… that is a restaurant you got to go to on the regular.
When it comes to pasta, I have always had a preference for Asian noodles over Italian pasta. But, this is one time I questioned my love for real good Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, or any noodle that originated from the Orient. Shoot, Italians only came up with pasta after returning to Italia and tried to emulate the Asian noodles they fell in love with while on their world travels.
I am perplexed that I ate a bowl of pasta that wasn’t laden with much sauce and lacked my favorite thing in a meal, meat… of a pig, cow, or chicken… or you know any other animal flesh that I would feel would be an exceptional addition to a dish… and I loved it, I say again, I loved it. I loved it like it was a charbroiled 40oz. ribeye. I loved it like I was sitting at a table about to eat a crab boil. I was like one of those kids, including my own, who seems so elated eating mac and cheese, ONLY, and loving it. There has to be something in that food or place that makes me overcome my insistence on having meat with every meal I have.
I ain’t gonna lie, I would prefer having a meatball or some kind of meat with my next meal there and I might request that I have whatever the chef wants, but I’ll need to have some meat too.
The restaurant is very small and I think I heard the hostess asking people if they had reservations when they arrived. So, make sure you make reservations in advance or don’t arrive with a belly that is hungry. Also, they only take cash.